The Wild Geese

Yesterday we sat down to watch another oldie that I had seen when I was younger quite some years ago. I remember this movie being quite high on my list of movies that I appreciated as a kid so when I saw it coming it on Blu-ray I had to get it. It is still a decent film but I remembered it as better.

The story is a fairly old a frequently reused one. Band of mercenary gets a mission by some person or entity of debatable reputation. Said person or entity double-crosses them, usually in a way which leaves them stranded and with a very short life expectancy. One or more of the mercenaries did not have his or hers imminent demise written into the script and thus ruins the plans, and usually the life, of one or more persons on the double-cros...

The man is dead, Mr. Faulkner. Now only the spirit remains.

Marvellously macho, a men on a mission movie proudly proclaiming that the old adage is indeed true, there is life in the old dog(s) yet. A notable cast of British and Irish thespians were rounded up and unleashed into a plot that required a band of mercenaries sent to extract an African President from some prison in the darkest part of Africa. The formula is tried and tested, the leader is a man made of stern stuff but carrying emotional baggage, his band of men assembled are a mixture of ex soldiers who have either fell on hard times or just haven't been able to let go of the army life that they feel was their calling in life. The latter of which causes great consternation am...

Stewart Granger hires Richard Burton's "Col. Faulkner" to put together a crack team, money no object, to fly to southern Africa and rescue the deposed president "Limbani" (Winston Ntshona). Meantime, his erstwhile colleague, poor old Roger Moore ("Flynn") in on the run from the London mob after he persuaded the nephew of one of their number to overdose on strychnine-laden heroine; and Richard Harris ("Janders") is trying to stay connected with his young son from his recent divorce. He recruits them and that's the nub of the team. Next, he turns to the strict disciplinarian RSM "Sandy" (Jack Watson) and wily South African "Coetzee" (Hardy Kruger) before a slew of their former associates (including a wonderfully camp Kenneth Griffith - the "p...